Sunday, March 02, 2008

Napa Valley Marathon

I had made the mistake of eating gels with no water at yesterday's Skyline 23K so I had some major digestive issues all day Saturday and Saturday night. But I still made the perhaps foolish decision to toe the line on Sunday morning along with 3000 other competitors. I figured I could still manage 7:30 pace for a sub 3:20 finish (another unnecessary Boston Qualifier). I ran out at an easy eight minute pace, when who should I see but Ray Sanchez who had also done yesterday's Skyline Ridge 23K. We ran together for the next 13 miles or so.

He said he also wanted to run 7:30 pace. But we still ended up running 7 minute splits until the half marathon mark. I knew I would pay for that speed so I let him move ahead right at that point.

I relaxed and resolved to enjoy the day, finishing up with a bunch of eight minute splits for a 3:32 time.

If I ever focused on road marathons (they aren't a priority for me), I could see trying to make this race a PR.

Hiya Adam, I also ran Napa last weekend and you are right, if ever you are looking for a PR then Napa is the way to go. I set a PR by 43 minutes!

I read your Overgrown Fatass post and you mentioned training your body to turn to its body fat reserves for energy. How have you gone about doing this? I like the concept, but don't know how to go about doing it.

Congrats on the PR! I only hope that the Overgrown Fatass helped you a bit in your training.

As far as burning fat, basically its just running after you've exhausted the glycogen stores in your muscles. Then your body has to use stored fat instead as fuel. I try to do my daily short run with no carbs in the morning to force this process. It is a slower burning fuel so you won't run as fast. Caffeine is known to help in metabolizing fat. At least thats my excuse for using caffeine a lot in training. I don't recommend trying to do this for long runs though, as happened at the Overgrown Fatass!

You know, I was thinking about that, and I think I did as well as I did at Napa because of the Overgrown Fatass. Just being out there as long as I was prepared me for it. I am almost certain.

I haven’t done too much running in the mornings before I’ve eaten anything, I’ll have to give that a try. I usually do my running in the afternoons after eating… Is that why caffeine is served at ultramarathons? I could never understand why. I always assumed it was the quick boost in energy from the caffeine, or something like that.

Anyway, good luck with your 50 miler this weekend. I look forward to reading about it.